SEGOVIA, Spain, May 12, 2018–Claudio Castilla Ruiz rode Alcaide to victory in the Grand Prix Freestyle Saturday for their second victory at this CDI3* that is the first selection event for the Spanish team for the Tryon World Equestrian Games in four months. Juan Matute, Jr. and Don Diego Ymas were second.

Claudio and the 13-year-old Spanish-bred stallion that competed for Spain at the 2016 Olympics and 2017 European Championships, scored 75.750 per cent for the victory in the musical performance.

Juan Matute, Jr. and Don Diego Ymas, a 15-year-old Hanoverian gelding, were second on 74.600 per cent.

Juan, 20 years old and seeking to compete in his first senior championship by earning a spot on Spain’s team, rode Don Diego in juniors in 2012, competing in the European Junior Championships in 2012 and 2013. The pair moved to the Under-25 division the next year and in 2016, placed third in the Grand Prix at the inaugural European Under-25 Championship.

Before moving from his family’s base in Wellington, Florida to Europe for most of this year, the pair swept all three classes in the Under-25 Nations Cup at the Global Dressage Festival.